Six Months in Montana (Montana Sweet Western Romance Series, Book 1) (13 page)

"
I
think
you should go back to Manhattan," Christian said. He and Molly were in the den. Molly was sipping a small glass of Pinot Noir, and had just gotten home from Rose Cottage and was starting to unwind. Christian was staring into a rocks glass filled with nothing but scotch.

Molly had very tentatively asked Christian where he thought things were going with them, as they were only a month away from the all- important six month deadline. She hadn't said a thing about Ben's phone call or the promotion, because she'd decided to stay in Montana instead, if Christian would have her.

"But what if I want to stay instead?" Her voice shook a little as she asked the question, and she was suddenly feeling unsure of Christian's feelings. Could she have misread him so completely?

"Dan told me about your phone call this morning. Sounds like congratulations are in order." His tone was dull and flat as he continued to sip his drink. Molly's heart sank; she should have told him earlier. 

"Yes, I got the promotion. But maybe I want to stay here instead? Do you want me to stay?" Because that was what she really needed to know. How did Christian feel about her?

"I think you should go back to Manhattan," he repeated.

"You don't want me to stay, even if I want to?" Molly felt hot tears spring up and turned away to collect herself.

Christian set his glass down and then wrapped his arms around her in what felt like a good-bye hug.

"I don't have a very good track record," he began. "I've loved being with you." His voice broke a little as he continued, "But I can't guarantee anything long-term. I can't have you give up your dream job for me. What if it doesn't work out?"

"We could try having a long-distance relationship?" Molly pleaded.

"That could never work," he said simply and let her go.

"No, I suppose not," she said softly, and then walked out of the den, dumped the rest of her wine in the kitchen sink, and went to bed, alone.

T
he next month was brutal
. Christian kept his distance and worked late almost every night, and when he got home, he went straight into his den and shut the door, so they hardly saw each other. Molly tried to focus on Rose Cottage, and added another wine dinner after the one that was already scheduled. She needed the extra work to keep her busy and help pass the time, which seemed to be crawling along at a painfully slow pace. She'd waited a day before calling Ben to formally accept the GM role, just in case Christian came to his senses and changed his mind, but that didn't happen.

M
olly was
on her second cup of coffee and kept an eye on the clock; she needed to head to the inn to start breakfast service soon. She was about to take her last sip when Mrs. O'Brien walked in the door, a bit earlier than usual.

"Good morning," Molly said half-heartedly.

Mrs. O'Brien set her bag down, and then poured herself a coffee and joined Molly at the island bar.

"I was hoping to catch you before you headed out the door."

"Is everything all right?" 

"Everything is fine with me. But I'm worried about you and Christian. The two of you have been moping around for weeks."

"I'm heading back to Manhattan soon."

"You took that job, the promotion at the hotel?"

Molly nodded. She barely had the energy to talk these days.

"What does Christian say about this?"

"It was his idea, once he heard about the offer. I told him I wanted to stay, but he told me to go." Mrs. O'Brien pursed her lips and frowned at that, then took a long sip of coffee.

"He told me the truth about your arrangement, you know. The day after you and I met. It's a good thing you did for all of us."

Molly just smiled miserably, fighting back the tears once again.

"It's more than that, though, isn't it? The two of you fell in love, anyone can see that."

Molly sighed. "I thought so, but it seems like I was wrong."

"He'll come to his senses. Just give him some time."

"I'm running out of time. I fly back in a week."

"He'll come around." Mrs. O'Brien seemed sure of it, but Molly had her doubts.

T
he next week was a whirlwind
, as Molly had hired a woman that Traci had recommended to manage the inn while she was in Manhattan, and spent her last week in Beauville training her on how they did things. Ann Rivers had worked at a motel in Bozeman for several years before having children. After being a full-time mom for almost ten years, she was ready to return to the work-force. Molly’s mother and aunt had volunteered to handle everything, but Molly didn't want to put that much on their shoulders. Instead, she asked them to continue working a shift each and to mentor Ann, and continue baking as much as they'd like.

The night before she was due to fly back to Manhattan, she went to her mother's house for dinner.

"I really don't see why the two of you couldn't work this out. Plenty of people do the long-distance thing these days," Aunt Betty said, as she opened a second bottle of Merlot and topped off their glasses. They were sitting around the kitchen table, full from her mother's lasagna and had been chatting away for several hours.

Molly sighed and took another sip of wine. They'd had this conversation or some variation of it several times over the past few weeks. "I actually agree with you. Christian doesn't though. He says he doesn't want to hold me back from my dream job."

"As much as I'd like to see you stay, honey, I understand Christian's feelings on this too," her mother said. "If he really loves you, he wouldn't want to stand in your way. This is the job you've been working towards for years."

"But, I told him I wouldn't take it, that I wanted to stay." Molly felt completely empty inside. 

"Sure you did, and I know you would have. But you'd also be giving up your dream. That's a lot to ask of someone, and a big weight on his shoulders if for some reason things didn't work out. He might be afraid you'd always wonder what could have been."

"So, what do I do?" Molly felt the tears welling up again. She should be thrilled to be starting her new job, but instead she was stressed out and utterly miserable. Her mother reached over, took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"You go back to Manhattan and you start that great new job, and you enjoy every minute of it. I firmly believe, and always have, that things happen for a reason and if something is meant to be, it will be. Maybe your Mr. Right is in Manhattan and you just haven't met him yet. You never know."

"You're right." Molly admitted, though the very last thing she was interested in was meeting someone new. She forced herself to smile and to look on the bright side. "Maybe the two of you will have to come to Manhattan soon for a visit; you're both long over-due."

"Absolutely!" Aunt Betty agreed with enthusiasm. "We’ll have a girls’ weekend. We'll start thinking about when to come and what to do. We'll have to see a show of course, and go visit the usual suspects in Brooklyn, and shop. It will be fun to play tourist with you."

"Call us as soon as your plane lands, honey." Her mother always insisted that Molly call to let her know she arrived safely whenever she traveled.

"Of course. I'm really going miss you both." Molly admitted. It had been wonderful spending so much time with her family. She was really going to miss that.

"Oh, honey, you'll be too busy to miss us! And we'll be there to bother you before you know it." Aunt Betty gave her a big hug, and then Molly hugged her mother as well and said her goodbyes. Her flight was at 6 am the next morning, and she wanted to be at the airport for 5.

Christian drove her to the airport the next day. It was still dark out as they drove, and neither one of them spoke much. There wasn't anything left to say. The sun was just starting to come up as they pulled into the airport parking lot. Christian grabbed her bags and walked her over to the curbside check-in. Molly checked her bags and then went to say good-bye to Christian. He stood waiting and, as Molly walked toward him, he held his arms open and pulled her in for a hug.

"Have a safe flight. Good luck with the new job!" He smiled and tried to look cheerful, but failed miserably. Molly could see the sadness in his eyes.

"I'm really going to miss you," she said and her voice broke.

Christian pulled her closer and touched his lips to hers for a moment. Molly sank into the kiss and he hesitated, and then kissed her back with everything that he had. Finally, he pulled back and simply said, "I'd better let you go catch your plane."

"
M
y dear Molly
, we are just so thrilled that you're back." Mrs. Foyle and her little dog Daisy were on their way to tea when Molly ran into them in The Clarendon's lobby.

"Thank you! I'm very happy to be here."

"Oh, and dear, congratulations. Your promotion is very well deserved."

Molly thanked Mrs. Foyle again, and watched as the old lady swept out to her waiting town car. The Clarendon had several of these vehicles available for their guests on a first-come, first-served basis, and Mrs. Foyle had a standing reservation nearly every afternoon.

Molly was settling in nicely to the new role. Ben had stayed for several weeks to help transition her into her new responsibilities before he moved on to his new position heading up one of their newer properties. He was based just a few miles away and easily available by phone if she had any questions. So far, she hadn't though. The new role wasn't all that different from what she'd been doing as assistant GM; she just had more decision making and trouble-shooting to do, which suited her well.

One nice thing about the role was that it kept her very busy. She was putting in extra time as well, at least in the first few weeks, to get up to speed and to have something else to focus on. By the time she got home from work on most evenings, she was too tired to do much more than fall into bed. She'd only talked to Christian once since she'd been back. He’d called at exactly the one month mark, to say hello and see how things were going. She'd simply told him everything was great, that the job was going well. She left out the fact that she'd cried herself to sleep for the first week. Their conversation had been brief and both had promised to keep in touch, but it was going on three months now and she hadn't heard from Christian again, nor had she called him. She was looking forward to this weekend though, as her mother and aunt were arriving on Saturday and staying until Tuesday. Molly had arranged to take Sunday and Monday night off, so they could spend some time together.

A little before six, Molly wrapped up for the day and headed off to Harry's bar to meet Meghan for their usual Thursday night drink.

Meghan was already sitting at the bar sipping a glass of wine when Molly arrived and settled into the seat next to her. Jimmy, their favorite bartender, was over in a flash to take her order and moments later returned with a glass of Cabernet.

"So, how was your week?" Meghan asked.

"Crazy, as usual." Molly laughed and took a sip of her wine. It was delicious and, after a few more sips, she felt herself start to relax. It had been a long week, with long hours and although she loved it and was grateful for the opportunity, she was also a bit surprised to find that she didn't feel the same sense of excitement she'd always felt before. It was like something was missing.

"Well, you were pretty much doing the job before, even without the title." Meghan said, when Molly tried to explain how she was feeling. "Maybe it's just a bit of a letdown now that you're finally in the role and it's not as different as you'd imagined."

"Maybe. I suppose that could be it," Molly agreed.

"Or maybe your priorities are just different now." Molly knew Meghan was referring to Christian.

"That's very much over," she said softly.

"You're sure?" When Molly nodded, Meghan continued, "Okay, well, if you're sure, there's someone I'd like you to meet. He's a friend of Ben's, actually. Ben wants to have us all over to his place for dinner after work tomorrow." Meghan and Ben had been dating now for several months and Molly was happy for them both.

"I don't know." Molly hesitated. The idea of a date with someone else held little appeal.

"It's not really a date. Think of it as dinner with friends. It'll be super- casual. If there's a connection, great; if not, no worries."

M
ost people would definitely have considered
Kyle Thompson a catch. He was tall, dark, handsome and most of all, nice. He was a college friend of Ben's and had recently relocated to Manhattan. Molly enjoyed talking to him. He had a great sense of humor and was passionate about his work as an architect. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him, except that he wasn't Christian. At the end of the evening, when he asked her to have dinner with him sometime, she agreed because she liked his company and because she didn't have a good enough reason to say no. Christian wasn't in the picture any longer, and Kyle really did seem like a great guy.

When her mother and Aunt arrived late Saturday afternoon, they hopped a cab to Molly's apartment and she met them there as soon as she was done with work. The small apartment was full of life with the two of them in it, and they had stopped along the way to pick up some snacks, cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine, which Aunt Betty opened as soon as Molly walked in the door. They had tickets to see Mamma Mia the next night, and reservations at Becco for dinner before the show, so on their first night in town, they just wanted to relax and catch up and, maybe, if they felt like it, have a pizza delivered.

Her mother and aunt were of course thrilled to hear about Molly's upcoming date. "It's good to get out there and meet new people," Aunt Betty said, when Molly expressed hesitation that she was ready to really start dating again.

"It's okay if he just turns out to be a friend," her mother said. "You can always use a good friend, and maybe it will turn into more. Just take it one day at a time," she advised.

"Have you seen Christian around? How is he?" Molly couldn't help but ask.

Her mother and aunt exchanged looks, and then Aunt Betty spoke up, "I don't know that there's anything to it, there's probably not, but Isabella has been seen out with Christian a few times."

Molly's heart sank. Was he back with Isabella already? If that was true, then she had to question if Christian had ever felt the way she had. Apparently not. Her misery must have been apparent on her face, because her mother stood up and gave her a hug.

"We weren't going to say anything, but it has been a few months now, and if Christian is moving on, maybe you should do the same."

"No, I'm glad you told me. Let's change the subject. What should we get on our pizza?" While they debated the various toppings, Molly made up her mind to definitely see Kyle again, and to try and stop thinking about Christian, because it didn't seem as though she was on
his
mind.

Christian couldn't stop thinking about Molly. He thought it would be easier once she was gone and he could get back to living his life the way he'd always done it. But that was impossible. The house seemed emptier than ever, like all the life had been drained out of it. He wasn't sleeping well and he knew he'd been a bear to be around, impatient and quick to snap. Travis had called him on it and he'd admitted that he'd been having a tough time of it. But Travis had little sympathy. The solution was simple to him, but Christian wasn't ready to go there, not yet. He wanted to give Molly time to figure out what she really wanted and to experience the job she'd dreamed about. 

M
olly had
a great visit with her mother and Aunt Betty, and a few days after they left, Kyle called to suggest going to dinner that Saturday night. He picked her up at 7:30 and they went to an interesting Ethiopian restaurant, where there were no utensils and they shared several dishes and used pieces of soft bread to scoop up the fragrant meats and vegetables. Molly was surprised by how much fun she had with Kyle. They laughed at the novelty of eating with their hands and it made for a comfortable, informal feeling. They had plenty to talk about and Molly felt like she was having dinner with an old friend. Which, she realized could be an issue, as what she didn't feel was the crazy excitement and attraction that she'd felt with Christian. But, maybe that was okay. Maybe nice and fun and comfortable could be a good thing too. Maybe the attraction would come after they'd spent more time together, and when she stopped comparing him to Christian.

It was a beautiful clear night, and after they finished eating they decided to walk back to Molly's place instead of getting a cab. When they reached the door of her apartment building, Molly debated whether or not to invite him in, but before she decided, he said, "I have an early meeting in the morning, so am going to grab a cab home. I had a really great time tonight and would love to do it again soon, if you're up for it?" He smiled and Molly didn't hesitate. "I'd love to." She had enjoyed the evening as well, and would be happy to spend more time with him.

"Great, I'll call soon and we'll make a plan." He leaned over, gave her a quick peck on the lips and then was on his way.

Two nights later, Molly was home for the evening and had just climbed into her softest pajamas and curled up on the sofa to watch a little TV, when the phone rang. At first, she guessed it might be Kyle calling to make plans for the coming weekend, but then she saw the caller ID and the butterflies came rushing back: it was Christian's cell phone number.

"Hello?"

"Molly, it's Christian." He sounded uncertain and very far away.

"Hi, what's up?" She tried to sound casual and friendly.

"How've you been?" he asked.

"Good, busy with work. You?"

"Same. Listen I'm calling because I have to come to New York tomorrow and would love to see you, see how you're doing. Are you free to meet up for dinner tomorrow night? I could meet you at Becco's after you get off work, or anywhere else you want to go?"

"Becco's is fine. I should be able to get there by 6:30. Why are you coming to New York?" she asked.

"A business meeting. I'll tell you more about it when I see you."

"Okay," she agreed. "See you tomorrow night."

"Looking forward to it." His voice sounded more confident now, more like the Christian she used to know.

Molly was a bundle of nerves the following day. She was so distracted that she kept forgetting what she was about to do, and had to check her to- do list repeatedly to make sure she stayed on track. Finally, she was able to wrap up for the day and jumped in a cab to go to Becco's.

Christian was waiting for her outside the main entrance and pulled her into a hug as soon as she reached him.

"Have you been waiting long?" she asked him.

"No, just got her a minute before you did. Are you ready to head in?"

He held the door for her, and they went inside and were seated immediately. The waiter came and they ordered a bottle of Amarone, a smooth red that went wonderfully with the pasta. Christian ordered a sirloin steak and Molly got what she always got at Becco's: the triple pasta. The pastas changed daily, but they were always delicious. Tonight was light-as-air gnocchi in a gorgonzola cream sauce with walnuts, rigatoni with spinach and scallops and fettucini with a light tomato and onion sauce.

As they drank their wine and ate their meals, they caught up on everyone they knew and what everyone was up to.

"How's the job going? Is it everything you'd hoped?" Christian asked.

"It's fine. It's going well. Everything is wonderful," she said with forced enthusiasm.

"I heard that you're dating." Christian stated. Molly thought that was interesting. The only people who knew about Kyle were her mother and her aunt, and she knew her mother would never say anything. What was Aunt Betty up too?

"I've gone on a couple of dates. Kyle is a nice guy." She couldn't help adding, "I think you'd like him." He glowered at that, and then Molly asked,

"I heard you and Isabella are back together?"

Christian looked outraged at the thought. "What? Where did you hear that?"

"You were seen out with her a few times. People assume things."

"Well, they would be assuming wrong. We are most definitely not back together. We were meeting to discuss a possible business deal."

"What kind of business would you have with Isabella?"

"She wants to unload her inn. It turns out she's not meant to run a B & B." He smiled at that. "She wanted to ask my advice and if we might be interested in taking it over. I told her I'd run the idea by you, but that I didn't know if you'd have any interest in another Montana property."

"That's the business meeting you referred to? With me?" Molly was a little confused. "You could have just called."

"No, I couldn't. I needed to see you, to look you in the eyes and see if you're happy here. Or if you might ever be happy somewhere else, say in Beauville maybe?"

Molly's heart raced. "What are you asking exactly?"

Christian smiled then, and Molly caught her breath at the sight of the laugh lines that danced around his mouth and the cute little crinkles around his eyes when he grinned. He dropped to one knee and took Molly's hand. "Molly I love you, and I've been missing you like crazy. Would you consider staying married to me?"

"Seriously? Yes, of course! What took you so long?"

He kissed her then, a long kiss that resulted in the tables around them clapping. He sat back down and took her hand again.

"It's been hell, this waiting. I wanted to give you enough time to feel like you'd really tried out the new job and that you weren't giving something up to be with me. I was going to wait another month or two to be sure, but then when I heard you'd met someone, I panicked. I couldn't risk losing you."

"You wouldn't have lost me. Kyle's a sweetheart, but he's not you."

"So, what do you think about Isabella's idea? If you took over her place, you'd have plenty to do between that and Rose Cottage." Molly loved the idea and now that she had Ann already working as a manager, it would be a simple transition.

"I love the idea, and more importantly, I love you. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"I think we owe a toast to Gramps," Christian said. "If it hadn’t been for him, we probably wouldn't be together."

"To Gramps!" Molly agreed, and then clinked her glass against Christian’s.   "And to the rest of our lives, together." She leaned over then and kissed him, and then they started making plans. As soon as she could work out her notice, she'd be on her way home to Montana and back to her husband…